August 18, 2017

Gorham Savings Bank promotes financial fitness in area high schools by Michelle Libby

For
the second year, students at five area high schools including Windham High
School, will supplement their financial learning with a program provided by
Gorham Savings Bank and EVERFI Financial.

The
program created by EVERFI covers the basics of money and is all digital and all
online. Nine modules cover the topics most important to today’s teens. Students
are given access to the program in class and to work on their own time. It was
left up to each school how to administer the program. More than 200 students at
Massabesic High School used the teaching tool.

Windham
social studies teacher Kelly-Anne Rush uses the program with her students to reinforce
a concept after covering it or to find out what the students already know
before starting a unit. She has taught senior personal finance and citizenship
for eight semesters.

“We
are trying to accomplish a lot in a semester,” Rush said.

Rush had
used other online programs before, but they were older programs. “This seems
more up to date. It has some cool interactives,” she said. “It has all the
skills I want them to know. I use it sparingly though. Computers can never
replace what a teacher can do,” she said.

Approximately
344 students used the program last year for a total of 761 hours of learning.

“We
are giving the high school students the tools to manage their money more
effectively,” said Dan Hancock, who manages the program for Gorham Savings Bank.
“It’s kind of cool. They need one person who had a passion for it in a
classroom. It takes a lot of time to put it together and administer it.”

The
students learn about budgeting, saving and planning for college, how to rent or
buy a home and what a credit report is. Everything is done in a fun interactive
way on the computer through video, commentaries and questions in modules that
average 40 to 45 minutes.

The
schools in the program are Windham, Gorham, Massabesic, Bonny Eagle and
Kennebunk. “These were schools that identified this as a need,” said Hancock.

“What
I love about this program is, at the beginning it tests student knowledge, and
then sees what they’ve learned. The most learning happened with paying for
college and that’s so important for that age,” said Hancock. The students who
are getting ready to go to college understand what it means to make payments
and how to minimize what they borrow after working that module.

“They
can apply it to their real lives. They are talking about things that really
resonate with them. We’d like to expand upon their knowledge,” said Hancock.

The
data for the program is accessible to the teachers. “I can see what they’ve
done. The data helps me figure out if students need more on a topic, or review
a trend they’re not getting,” said Rush.

When
speaking to the students, they felt that the program peaked their interest in
investing. “I wouldn’t have thought we’d see that in high school students,”
said Hancock.

Rush
said that the most important concept the program teaches is building a good
credit score and credit in general. “I really think it’s important for them to
understand while they’re young (that credit) gets people into trouble,” Rush
said. “Funding your future is a very pressing issue for my students,” she said.

“Sometimes
you made the right decision and sometimes you learn the hard way,” said
Hancock. This program gives students better access to information that can put
them on the right path to financial fitness.

Students
that Rush has taught have come back to class to tell her that they’ve put money
in a CD or that they just leased their first apartment. “It just warms my
heart. That makes it worth it.”

Gorham
Savings Bank is looking to grow the project at the five schools so that more
students have access to this vital information. There is no “hard sell” in the
program and there is no cost to the school to make it as accessible as possible,
said Hancock. This is a way to be visible in the community. The bank wants its
customers to learn what they can about money. “If the students want to become customers of
the bank, that’s okay, but it’s not required,” Hancock said. Gorham Savings
Bank’s mission is, “to improve the financial and social well-being of our
communities.”

“The
more information the students have access to the more prepared they’ll be to
manage their money,” he added.